Dark Chocolate Animal Crackers from The Chocolate Delicacy

It’s not even February, and 2013 has already exhausted me to the quick. As someone who doesn’t particularly put much stock in new year’s resolutions, I seem to have started the year with perhaps too many endeavors. Did I really have to sign up for the New York half marathon this year? Do I really need to take a course on microeconomics on Coursera?

To top it all off, I have been traveling to and from Rhode Island for work on an almost bi-weekly basis. Coincidentally, my Rhode Island destination is a town over from N.’s hometown. Between Christmas and work, I’ve been getting a crash course on life in the Ocean State.

Don’t worry, though; this blog isn’t suddenly going to pick up and move north any time soon. But, if it were, there are certainly some consolations to be had, such as The Chocolate Delicacy, a husband and wife-owned chocolate shop that has been doing business for over twenty years in picturesque, quaint downtown East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

On my last trip, I stopped in and happened across something wonderfully novel and completely addictive: dark chocolate covered animal crackers.

In New York, where you can find everything from the more plebeian chocolate enrobed items, like graham crackers and Oreos (not to knock chocolate covered grahams or Oreos), to the more inventive, like chocolate covered Cheerios, one would expect to have seem something like this before. It’s so simple – a childhood favorite dunked in chocolate. And yet, I have never come across these here. If I am wrong and someone can direct me to a shop that’s been putting these front and center on their shelves, please! Correct me and send me the address, because chocolate covered animal crackers are, not to be crass, effing incredible.

To be completely honest I bought a bag for my coworkers ($3.95, I think), which was promptly devoured in half an hour, and then went back to the shop to buy one (or several) bags more for myself. These treats reminded me of another of my childhood favorites: Lu’s Petit Écolier cookies. In both, the biscuit is dry and bland enough to withstand a good wash in a potent black tea, but the thickly applied, high quality dark chocolate elevates it to an entirely adult treat, with or without a caffeinated beverage. Balance here is crucial, and entirely spot on. Despite the chocolate, you are still sure you are eating an eating an animal cracker, albeit an extra-delicious one.

And aren’t they adorable?

Horse? Sheep? Bison? Mammoth? Any guesses?

When I made my second trip, I lucked out and found owner Marie Schaller (wo)manning the register. I effusively complimented her on her ingenuity with the crackers and she politely demurred, passing the credit on to her husband (Dave). She said he enjoys running sturdy foodstuffs through his chocolate machine, so for that, Dave, I want to thank you directly for your stroke of genius with these. If you ever feel like shipping these little creatures to New York, you will have at least one person placing orders.